Mikayla Matthews was 15 years old when she moved out of her mother's house.
She had grown up in California before her family relocated to Utah, and by the time she was a teenager, the home she was living in was not safe. She had been sexually abused from age 6 to age 15 by three separate individuals. When she finally told her mother, her mother did not believe her. So Mikayla left.
A month after moving out, she met Jace Terry through her sister. She was 15. He was 21. By the time she turned 16, she was pregnant.
She kept the baby and married Jace. Mikayla built a life, a platform, and a following that now reaches millions. On March 12, 2026, in Episode 9 of Season 4 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Mikayla Matthews confirmed that she and Jace have separated.
Matthews is 25 years old and has four children. She is chronically ill, and she is still doing what she has done since she was a teenager in Utah: figuring it out in public, without apology.
Who Is Mikayla Matthews?
Mikayla Matthews was born on March 17, 2000, in California. She is the second youngest of seven siblings. Her family moved to Utah at some point during her childhood, and it is Utah where her adult life has unfolded entirely.
She is a content creator, MomTok influencer, and one of the original cast members of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu. She joined the show in Season 1 and has appeared in every season since. She is now 25 years old and one of the most recognized faces in the Mormon influencer space, not because she generates the loudest drama, but because she tends to say exactly what she is thinking, including the parts other people would edit out.
Her Instagram, @mikayla__matt, has millions of followers. Her content has always walked the same line: the aesthetic of Mormon influencer motherhood and the unfiltered reality underneath it. She posts her kids. She posts her flare-ups. She posts her marriage. She does not pretend any of it is easy.
Mikayla Matthews and MomTok: How She Got Here
MomTok is the Utah-based corner of social media where Mormon mothers built large followings documenting their domestic lives, and Mikayla Matthews was part of it before it became a television show.
In 2022, a "soft swinging" scandal involving a subset of the MomTok group went public and fractured the community. Friendships ended. Some marriages did not survive. The fallout generated enough content and public interest for Hulu to develop The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which premiered and immediately became one of the streamer's most-watched reality series.
Mikayla was not at the center of the original scandal. She was part of the wider community, already building her following as a young mother documenting life with a husband, four children, and a body that kept working against her. The show gave her a bigger platform. It also put her marriage under a microscope at exactly the moment it was struggling most.
Mikayla Matthews' Husband Jace Terry: What You Need to Know
Jace Terry is 30 years old. He and Mikayla have been together since 2016, when she was 15, and he was 21. They married on March 1, 2018, after the birth of their first son.
He is not a public figure in the way Mikayla is. He did not choose television, and the show cost him more than he anticipated. Jace was fired from his job at Waffle Love after The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premiered. He confirmed at the Season 2 reunion in July 2024 that he is now a stay-at-home dad while Mikayla runs the family's content business.
He has appeared in DadTok segments throughout the series, talking with other husbands about what it is like to watch your wife become a public figure while your marriage quietly falls apart. In Season 4, he spoke directly about what the intimacy problems had cost him.
"More than anything and more than the actual sex, I just want to feel like I can connect with my wife again," he said. "And I want to feel loved by my heart."
He and Mikayla were married on March 1, 2018. Their separation became national news on March 12, 2026, eleven days after their eighth wedding anniversary.
Why Did Mikayla Matthews and Jace Terry Separate?
The separation did not come out of nowhere. It had been building across multiple seasons.
Mikayla has spoken openly throughout the show about being sexually abused from age 6 to age 15 by three individuals. That trauma has shaped her relationship with physical intimacy in ways she has described in detail, across multiple seasons, without softening. Kissing triggers her. Physical closeness activates her nervous system in ways she cannot always control. She has been in therapy, but she told Jace during Season 4 that her progress was not where either of them needed it to be.
"I feel like I've done a lot of therapy work already, and my stuff is still bad," she said.
Her chronic illness made everything harder to manage. Her autoimmune condition, chronic eczema, and SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) have caused ongoing flare-ups that affect her energy and her ability to focus on healing. On Instagram, she posted photos of her flare-ups with the caption, "Chronically over this sh-t oh and still chronically ill."
In Episode 9 of Season 4, Mikayla told Jace she needed space. She packed her bags and moved in with co-star Mayci Neeley. She told Jace she did not see the separation as permanent but could not give him a timeline.
"I don't think it's like with the intention of being separated forever," she said. "But it could take weeks or months to be healed."
Jace asked her to commit to trauma therapy before they reunite. She told him her bucket was full.
E! News confirmed the separation on March 12, 2026, the same day the episode dropped on Hulu. People magazine reported that the split had actually been filmed in late 2025, and that the two had been seen together for holiday photos after filming wrapped, suggesting the situation remained fluid at the time of publication.
Mikayla Matthews Children
Mikayla Matthews and Jace Terry have four children.
Beckham was born on July 3, 2017. Mikayla was 17 years old. She has talked about the shame she carried as a teenage mother in Utah, describing how she stopped going out in public because she was afraid of running into people she knew.
Haven is now 6. Tommie is now 4. Their youngest, Lottie June, was born on July 17, 2025. Mikayla confirmed the birth on Instagram with a post captioned: "7•17•25 our perfect baby girl is here."
Lottie June was born during one of the most difficult periods of Mikayla and Jace's marriage. She is now about eight months old. Both Mikayla and Jace have said their children are the central consideration in how they are handling the separation, and Mikayla has said she plans to see all four children every day.
Mikayla Matthews Chronic Illness
Mikayla Matthews has been managing multiple chronic health conditions throughout her time on the show, and she has never been private about any of it.
She has been diagnosed with autoimmune disease, chronic eczema, and SIBO. The conditions cause flare-ups that she documents publicly on Instagram and has discussed across every season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. The illness affects her energy, her motivation, and her capacity to address other areas of her life simultaneously.
She told producers during Season 4 that her health had become an obstacle to her marriage recovery.
"It's definitely discouraging and frustrating, and it kind of holds me back in other places in my life, like my marriage with Jace," she said.
Her castmates and the show's audience have been vocal in their support. When she posts about her flare-ups, the response is consistent and immediate. It is one of the areas where her openness has built the most loyalty.
Mikayla Matthews Net Worth in 2026
Mikayla Matthews has an estimated net worth of approximately $5 million as of 2026.
That number was built entirely through content creation. Her MomTok presence, her Hulu platform, brand partnerships, and sponsored content across Instagram and TikTok make up the bulk of her income. Jace's departure from traditional employment means Mikayla is now the primary earner for a household with four children.
She has never framed her career as a business in the conventional sense. She talks about it the way she talks about everything else: directly, with more detail than most people would offer, and without the polished distance that other influencers maintain.
Where Is Mikayla Matthews Now in 2026?
Mikayla Matthews is separated from Jace Terry and is currently staying with co-star Mayci Neeley.
Season 4 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is streaming now on Hulu. New episodes drop weekly. The separation is the central storyline of the current season.
She has not announced whether the separation is permanent. She has not confirmed active reconciliation. What she has said is that she is focused on her own healing, that she sees her children every day, and that she is not done talking about any of it.
She is still in Utah. She is still posting. She is still the same person who left home at 15 with nothing and decided to figure it out.
For readers following other reality television personalities navigating public relationships and private pain in 2026, Jenelle Evans has been working through her own version of this story since relocating to Las Vegas and restarting her life after years of similar headlines.
Mikayla Matthews Fast Facts
| Full name | Mikayla Matthews |
| Date of birth | March 17, 2000 |
| Age | 25 |
| Birthplace | California |
| Siblings | 6 (second youngest of 7) |
| Husband | Jace Terry (separated March 2026) |
| Married | March 1, 2018 |
| Children | Beckham (8), Haven (6), Tommie (4), Lottie June (b. July 17, 2025) |
| Health | Autoimmune disease, chronic eczema, SIBO |
| Show | The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Hulu |
| Net worth | ~$5 million (est.) |
| @mikayla_matt | |
| Based | Utah |
Frequently Asked Questions About Mikayla Matthews
Who is Mikayla Matthews?
She is a 25-year-old Utah-based content creator and cast member of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu since Season 1. Born on March 17, 2000, in California, she is one of the original MomTok influencers and is known for her candid discussions of childhood trauma, chronic illness, and young motherhood. Her estimated net worth is approximately $5 million.
Why did Mikayla Matthews and Jace Terry separate?
Mikayla and Terry separated in 2026 after years of intimacy struggles rooted in Mikayla's childhood sexual abuse, which she has discussed openly throughout the show. She told Jace during Season 4 of Mormon Wives that she needed time to focus on her own healing. She moved in with co-star Mayci Neeley. The separation was confirmed in Episode 9 of Season 4 on Hulu on March 12, 2026.
How many children does Mikayla Matthews have?
Matthews has four children with Jace Terry: Beckham, born July 3, 2017; Haven, age 6; Tommie, age 4; and Lottie June, born July 17, 2025. Mikayla was 17 years old when Beckham was born.
How old was Mikayla Matthews when she got pregnant?
Mikayla was 16 years old when she became pregnant with her first child, Beckham. She had left home at 15 and met Jace Terry, who was 21 at the time, through her sister. They married on March 1, 2018.
What is Mikayla Matthews' chronic illness?
She has been diagnosed with autoimmune disease, chronic eczema, and SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). The conditions cause ongoing flare-ups that she documents publicly on Instagram and has discussed throughout every season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
What is Mikayla Matthews' net worth?
Matthews has an estimated net worth of approximately $5 million as of 2026, built through MomTok content creation, her Hulu platform, and brand partnerships. She is the primary earner for her household of six since her husband, Jace Terry, became a stay-at-home dad following his departure from Waffle Love after Season 1 premiered.